Last day of work, 1 April 2010

Last month I (Alex) was pretty nervous about givng up my job and income. Now that we're only 4 days from jumping off into the wild blue yonder, our nerves are steady and resolve set to make this a fun adventure. We're remarkably calm and ready.

So, April Fools' Day is my last work day, then Friday the 2nd we're off to Kerrville, TX. ( Pictured left is the skyline of Corpus Christi .)  We'll make a short stop at the local Freightliner company to have a recall for a brake pedal adjustment handle taken care of and to have the rig weighed while it's fully loaded (like its crew). We need to drop off an antique rifle and Civil War pistol at our storage unit in Kerrville. We were going to send them to Bill in Mexico, but it appears Mexico has enough guns down there and you can't even send an old 1860 rifle/pistol to an heir. Then we're off to The Big Bend National Park. It's along the Rio Grande River next to Old and New Mexico. Lots of things to see in a short tourist season because it's either cold or blazing hot most of the year. After 4 or 5 days we'll see about driving to visit family in Arizona.

Enough About Us

What about you? What do you think of this change in lifestyle? Could you do it? Would you even want to do it?
Well, we've gotten all kinds of reactions when we tell someone what we are doing. The spectrum runs from, "Are you crazy? How can you leave your family and friends behind. How selfish.", or "You are going to give up everything to stay in a sleazy mobile home park with trailer trash?" to "Wow, I wish I could do that" and "Tell me how I can do that and travel all over the United States, Canada and Mexico."
To those of you that might be interested in how one would learn about this lifestyle or just because you are curious, here's some info.
Believe it or not there are a million plus people doing this. People from all walks of life.
Most full timers are people who decided that they wanted a change in their life, a big change. They want something more than working to pay for their big house, 2, 3, or 4 cars, tv's, etc., etc. They want to get out from under the normal daily grind and see something new. This means giving up their stick house, usually a job, and the comfort of living in the same familiar place.
There are thousands and thousands of web sites about full time RVing. How to find the right RV, how to test drive it, how to find great campgrounds, how to find the best repair shop and how to set a budget. Really there's so much information all you need is time to learn. And if you are thinking about doing something like this, our advise is to learn as much as you can and take your time before you quit your job and buy a RV off Ebay. Yikes.
Alex and I planned, researched and saved money for 16 years while we were raising our son. You won't need to spend that much time, thank goodness, because there is excellent info out there now. Here, are but a few to start with.

Escapees: http://www.escapees.com/
Discussion board: http://www.rvnetwork.com/
RV Dreams: http://www.rv-dreams.com/
RV Dreams Journal: http://www.rv-dreams.typepad.com/
One of our favorite blogs: http://www.birdingrvers.blogspot.com/

Don't forget to check out the National, State, County and City campgrounds. You'll be amazed at the places you get to see out your window.

Well, we could go on and on but these will get you started and, you won't have to stay in that sleazy park. Have fun.